As a result of Croatia’s accession to the European Union on 1 July 2013, the Belgian Council of Ministers approved on 17 May 2013 the draft Royal Decree relating to the transitional immigration measures applicable to Croatian employees who will work in Belgium.
During the transitional period of 2 years, Croatian nationals who will work in Belgium will be subject to the same rules as the ones currently applicable to Bulgarian and Romanian nationals.
This means that, until the end of this two year the transitional period, the employer of Croatian employees still needs to apply for an employment authorisation whereby the employees obtain a work permit.
The simplified procedure for obtaining a work permit for certain bottleneck professions will also be allowed to be followed for Croatian employees.
Croatian employees will be exempted from the obligation to obtain a work permit if they are seconded to Belgium by an employer that is established in the European Economic Area in the framework of a services agreement concluded with the Belgian company.
REMARK: the period of the transitional measures for Romanian and Bulgarian employees ends on 31 December 2013. As from that time, the latter will no longer need to have a Belgian work permit.
